Abstract: [Objective] To provide scientific basis for the identification and quality evaluation of agarwood, HPLC condition listed in"Chinese Pharmacopoeia"(2015) was improved, and the characteristic chromatogram for both wild agarwood and artificial agarwood was established.[Method] The analysis was carried out on a Phenomenex luna C₁₈ column(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) with a gradient mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.7 mL·min^-1. The detection wavelength was set at 252 nm and the column temperature was 31℃. 29 batches of samples including both reference and validation ones were investigated. The chromatographic conditions were optimized and the precision, stability and repeatability of the method were investigated. The common characteristic peaks were analyzed with "Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Chinese Materia Medica".[Result] The results show that the precision, stability and repeatability of the method are good. The RSD of relative retention time of the characteristic peaks selected for either wild agarwood or cultivated agarwood is less than 2%. The results of 15 batches of validation samples show that the HPLC characteristic chromatogram of agarwood is accurate and effective for the identification of agarwood. 5 batches of adulterated agarwood among them cannot meet with the characteristic chromatogram, but the HPLC characteristic chromatogram of both 6 batches of wild agarwood and 4 batches of cultivated agarwood samples are consistent with those of agarwood.[Conclusion] 29 batches of samples contain both wild and cultivated agarwood, and the developed HPLC method shows good applicable to both wild and cultivated agarwood, which conforms to the requirements of method ology validation and can be used for the quality control of agarwood.

Key words: agarwood, HPLC, characteristic chromatogram, identification